


redeem yourself

by BirdBirdBirdBird



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-11-04 06:14:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17893049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BirdBirdBirdBird/pseuds/BirdBirdBirdBird
Summary: stoick couldn't make that gap in timebut snotlout could.





	redeem yourself

**Author's Note:**

> a what if au where snotlout dies for hiccup instead of stoick during httyd 2. based on the fact he died so hiccup could escape some nasty thots in the book series. snotlout and hiccup are my favorites if you couldn't tell.
> 
> I do think it would be interesting to see a rider die and I don't think stoick dying was the coolest way to have hic become chief. anyways let's GO

The battle was wearing the man thin, Hookfang long out of shots by now. Snotlout shrieked and flung a hammer at the head of a soldier, tackling away a second. Hookfang plucked Snotlout from the ground before spinning in a circle, deadly tail a whip.

Soldiers went flying. "Good one, boy!" Snotlout panted, dropping to the ground safe from his dragon's attacks. He watched the fighters struggle to their feet and run, launching themselves towards their ships. "YOU BETTER RUN!" He spit. Actually, they were all running. 

And so were the dragons.

Hookfang grumbled behind him, teeth rattling in his massive head. "Hookfang?" Snotlout reached out his hand. Hookfang's eyes were tiny slits, so much so that they could've been mistaken for pure gold. "Hookfang, what's-?"

"Meatlug!"

"Barf, no-!"

"Belch, come on!"

"Stormfly!"

Snotlout watched the dragons he knew so well fly off, filled with terror and dread. Before he could do anything else, Hookfang leapt off the ground, flying away with his companions' mounts. "Hookfang! Come back! Where are you going?!"

All of the dragons were leaving. Every one. All... except for the flightless one. Who currently had his rider cornered against a wall of ice. "Toothless, this isn't you! Come on, bud! It's me! It's Hiccup!" 

The twins suddenly skittered up next to Snotlout. "What's Toothless doing?" Tuffnut yelled. 

Snotlout was about to respond when he saw smoke begin to billow from the dragon's nose. "Oh Thor." He choked. Hiccup's face paled in comparison to the black dragon, eyes wide. "Hiccup!"

Toothless thrashed his head about, has stretching and closing, claws digging into the ground. "That alpha shithead has our dragons!" Ruffnut snapped. "He must have Toothless too!"

Snotlout ripped his gaze away from his cousin to see a massive blur of red sprint across the battle field, blocking shots and breaking through chunks of ice. Toothless was so close to firing. So. Close. 

"Stoick!" Fishlegs yelped, narrowly avoiding sliding down the hillside the three stood on. "He isn't gonna make it in time!"

Snotlout couldn't breathe. His weak, wimpy, runt, early-born cousin was now cornered and about to die at the hands (paws?) of the thing he loved most. This can't be happening. It couldn't. "It won't." He whispered.

"What?"

"It WON'T!" He screamed, throwing himself down the hillside, ignoring the screams behind him. Snotlout charged, he ran like Thor was with him himself, awake in his bones and his blood. Snotlout trampled bodies, some dead some still alive, he dodged arrow fire, he dug his boots into the snow. He couldn't let this happen. Not on his watch. 

As Snotlout ran, he saw the eyes of his terrified cousin. The now grown-into eyes still seemed so large against young Hiccup's small, soft face. The freckles had grown stronger from their years at the Edge. His braids sprung out like coils in Gobber's malfunctioning limbs. Was this the last thing he would ever see?

Snotlout was mere seconds away from Hiccup. He'd only been running for seconds but Gods how long it felt. Snotlout leapt and pushed himself off an ice ledge that jutted out just close enough to Hiccup that he could reach. 

"SNOTLOUT, NO-!"

Time froze as Snotlout collided with his cousin. They always said that your life flashed before your eyes before you died. Snotlout saw the scrawny figure of Hiccup learning how to walk again after losing his leg, saw him asleep at his desk with a dozen new drawings, heard the boy's stupid laugh. He also heard the countless insults Snotlout bombarded onto him, felt the punches and kicks, felt the heartbreak of knowing he couldn't see past his ways to see his family right in front of him. 

Snotlout didn't want to see the end. He closed his eyes, drifting in midair. _Well, Thor_ , he thought. _Hope this was enough to redeem myself. See you in Valhala._

He never saw the blast. He never felt the blast. He never heard the blast. Snotlout, however, did hear a scream. A loud one, at that.

-

Hiccup covered his eyes as he waited for the ice shards to settle around him, coughing and hacking. "DAD, NO!" He shrieked when he came to. "DAD, N-" Hiccup froze, mid-scramble to stand up. Stoick stood right in front of him, has slack, eyes locked on the ground. "D-Dad? B-but you... I-" 

"SNOTLOOOUT!" Ruffnut screamed, charging down the hillside in front of them. 

Oh Gods no. Oh Thor, please no. Hiccup forced himself to look down. Snotlout laid, body smoking and sizzling, on his side in a heap. "SNOTLOUT!" 

Hiccup flung himself down to the ground, pulling his cousin's limp body close to him. "Nonon-no, you'll be okay, c'mon, Lout, c'mon." He laid his head against Snotlout's chest. "C'mon." 

At first, nothing. Then he heard it, a quiet badump, badump. Badump, badump. 

 _Thank you, Thor_! Hiccup sobbed a sigh of relief. "Someone get Gothi from the ship! We need her!" When no one moved, he screamed, "NOW!" 

A Viking by the name of Harrnet scrambled by them towards one of the only surviving ships that Berk had brought. Hiccup began to press his hands to Snotlout's wound. "Come on, you'll be okay, no worries-" One of the injured viking's larger hands touched his, softly prying it away. "N-n-no!" Hiccup gasped.

Snotlout stared weakly at his kin. "You don't get second chances at life, Haddock. I'm..." tears leaked down the corners of Snotlout's eyes. "Im okay."

Tuffnut grabbed Ruffnut to keep her from lurching forward and hitting the ground next to Snotlout. Fishlegs trembled in horror.

"Snotlout." Hiccup whispered. "What the hell were you thinking?! Why the hell would you save me?!" He cried. "You don't save me! You save yourself!"

Snotlout winced. "Consider it... my redemption." He whimpered, a positively un-Snotlout sound. "My... my apology for-" he broke off coughing. "For all the years I treated you like-" Red coughing. "Like shit."

Hiccup slowly reached for the wound again, but halted halfway. Painstakingly, he moved it from Snotlout's middle and placed it on the hand that covered his own right hand. "You're forgiven." He hitched. "You were forgiven long ago. This-" he broke off into tears. 

 _Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III crying over his childhood bully. Who would've thought? Not just bully, no, a changed man, his cousin,_ my _cousin_. 

Snotlout struggled to fill his lungs with air, gazing over to the four other riders that surrounded him. "You guys... better not... do what I did... if Hiccup is stupid... again." He playfully snapped. "This is a... one time... thing."

Ruffnut cried into her hands. Hiccup had never seen either twin cry. Well, not for awhile anyways. She finally did drop next to Snotlout, kissing his lips quickly and suddenly in a send off. Snotlout smiled warmly. She tried her hardest to return the smile but laid herself over the man and sobbed pitifully. Tuffnut knelt next to her. Astrid followed towards Hiccup's side, placing her hand in Snotlout's forearm. Fishlegs flanked Hiccup's other side, hand on Snotlout's leg. 

One last moment.

Harrnet suddenly came bustling up behind Stoick. "I've got Gothi, I've got-!" 

Stoick blocked the pair. "It's... too late. This is their goodbye. We won't interfere. If you try..." His warning tone and glare sent Harrnet running for safety. Gothi remained, gazing at the riders with wide, sad eyes.

Snotlout's breath was weaker with every inhale. It shuddered then trickled into absolute nothingness. Snotlout Jorgenson was a dead man. All because of a stupid dragon. There was nothing beautiful about this. It was just... death.

Toothless finally sank to his belly, shaking his head free of the Alpha's call. Hiccup watched him slowly rise and edge towards Snotlout's corpse. "NO!" He shrieked. In absolute honesty, he wanted Toothless more than ever. But he couldnt. He just couldn't. "THIS IS YOUR FAULT! GET OUT OF HERE! GO!" 

Toothless whined sadly, taking another step forward. He nosed Snotlout's leg and rubbed his nubs against his belly. Hiccup wound up and did something he never thought he'd do again: he struck Toothless outside the head. 

"GO!" Hiccup screamed. Astrid pulled him down and enveloped him in her arms, whispering to him and holding him and not letting go.

Hiccup sobbed, slowly and horribly. Snotlout was dead. He struck Toothless. Toothless KILLED Snotlout. How could he? Drago. Nothing made sense anymore. Hiccup could regret it all later. Right now, they all lost their dragons.

And Snotlout Jorgenson was a dead man.

-

The Berkians would use an abandoned hunter's ship to return home. The last Berk ship belonged to Snotlout's body. No way in Valhala or Hell would Snotlout be sent off on an enemy ship.

Hiccup dipped the arrow into the kindle and stiffly gave it to Spitelout. Spitelout gave him a grateful glance before nocking the arrow. Hiccup never liked the man, but could tolerate him now. Spitelout's shoulders shuddered before he finally released the arrow and it struck ship.

Stoick shot his next, then Hiccup, then the rest of the riders. They watched the engulfed ship crumble in the distance. Hiccup placed his arms on Ruffnut and Tuffnut, sagging beneath the weight of loss. The twins each held Astrid and Fishlegs on either side.

They stayed like this until Snotlout's ship was safely burnt beneath the waves. 

Undoubtedly, Snotlout Jorgenson had absolutely redeemed himself. As Hiccup looked out at the sea of vikings, mourning like both chiefs had just died,  Hiccup only thought of one thing: he would avenge Snotlout or die trying.

Hiccup sat down in the sand and stared into the charred remains of the kindle pile. "You burnt out to fast, Lout." He picked up the charcoal and crumbled it in his fist. "You burnt. So... I didn't have too." 

The wind picked up, almost like Snotlout was listening. The kindling fire sparked and slowly, slowly grew back. Hiccup stared at it with wide eyes before gazing to the sky. 

"We won't burn out. Don't you worry."

**Author's Note:**

> icky ending whatever  
> I wrote this in one sitting  
> with minimal proof reading  
> good night 
> 
> also comment and leave kudos or don't I don't control you
> 
> edit: alright so yeah I know this is ooc I knew it when I was writing this lemme cover some things:
> 
> \- the reason I made lout try to save hiccup was because lout is brash and doesn't think before he acts half the time
> 
> \- also bc I'm tried of fics where snotlout is o n l y an asshole (which I get is a character trait of his but like,, c'mon fellas let's get creative)
> 
> \- I personally like the idea of ruff with snot idk how else to explain that (but in this she probably just doesn't go to anybody)
> 
> \- redemption is always something that snotlout centered angsty fics have so I treated that in there
> 
> \- LET THESE KIDS CRY AND LOVE EACH OTHER GOD DAMN IT DREAMWORKS
> 
> \- In this instead of Eret getting Stoick's dragon, Hiccup just finds him a new dragon or one that didn't have a rider yet. The riders agreed nobody else should ride Hookfang. (seriously why dis hiccup just,, GIVE UP his DEAD DAD'S dragon?)
> 
> \- alright I think that's it idk if I forgot anything


End file.
